Spectrum
by Child of the Sky
Summary: Their relationship has such variety, but the human eye sees only so much. Each shade is a different facet.  MirandaxLenalee, PWP. Chapter 2: Black Order.   Sorry for the crappy summary!
1. White Funeral

**A/N: Yay, a new story!**

**Disclaimer: But you haven't even finished your latest one!**

**CotS: It's called multi-tasking, my dear pet.**

**D: Either way creeper-girl, you still don't own DGM.**

Overall, Lenalee was rather impressed, despite there being only about thirty people gathered in the hastily decorated dining hall. It was miraculous in itself that the higher-ups allowed a ceremony of any sort, no matter how makeshift. After all, exorcists were never given funerals, especially when one of them died a Noah and an official traitor. Especially when those said circumstances were the reason Allen Walker lay in the casket in front of the white-clad mourners.

The priest droned on about immortality this and moving on that, the words crawling around the girl's muddled head until they lost all meaning. She concentrated on each syllable and tuned everything else out. She didn't even notice each white-clad individual standing up from their seats. Only when a slender, smooth hand took her own did she realize what was going on. "Come on," the owner's voice whispered. Lenalee just nodded and followed Miranda to the casket.

It was obvious that whoever had organized everything had very little time to do so. All of the long tables were pushed to the sides, save one that was covered in a white sheet whose purpose was simply to be better than bare wood. In the middle sat the coffin, open for viewing. Everybody had lined up ceremonially and began to quickly file past, sometimes placing a trinket or flower next to the corpse. Looking ahead, Lenalee took dull note of each face: Jonny, hysterically sobbing; a dazed Lavi being led by a disgruntled Bookman; Howard Link, looking as awkward as he probably felt.

Suddenly, Leverrier's face popped into the young exorcist's sight, blocking everything out. The cold dread in her stomach instantly turned red-hot and spread through her body. She prepared to cause any harm possible to the monster, but Miranda locked an arm around her slim waist. "Don't," the woman murmured. "He isn't worth it. Not here."

Lenalee hissed, "How _dare_ he-!"

"He's the reason we're here."

"But-!"

"_No_." Miranda's tone held a note of finality to it, so Lenalee just dropped it. Within seconds, they were standing at the centerpiece. Shockingly enough, Allen actually looked… _normal_. His body just lay there peacefully, as if he were enjoying his first restful slumber in a long time. His hair and skin were both as pale as ever, but had an artificial feel to them, as if he were a doll. Lenalee averted her eyes, too distressed to keep looking. Since there were so few people, the pair went by quickly.

Soon enough, the casket was being taken outside to be buried. The weather was sunny and warm, just the way Allen had always liked it. As exorcists piled dry dirt on top of the simple box, it made a hollow drumming sound. The warm, earthy scent invaded each attendee's nose. From behind Lenalee, there was a chocking sound. She whirled around to see Lavi with his hand over his mouth, tears splashing everywhere. She wanted to hold him, say something, but she just stood there staring yet completely unnoticed.

And then it was over. Leverrier departed immediately, probably to get some meaningless task done. A few members of the science team stood at the site for a few moments before they, too, returned to work. More people left until there was just Lavi (Bookman had run off), Link, Lenalee, and Miranda. The inspector turned to the redhead and said something inaudible to the rest. Junior just nodded and headed inside, Link following close behind.

Miranda continued to hold Lenalee's hand, which was the latter's only comfort. The older woman's skin was soft and warm, anchoring her to reality. Finally, Miranda leaned over, kissed the girl's cheek and muttered, "No sense staying out here, I guess."

"I guess not," came the quiet reply. The rest was a blur of scenes, flashes of outside, hallways, and then the Lenalee's room. She looked around at the pure normalcy of everything, from the neatly-made bed to the cleared desk. After a few moments, her eyes slid over to her companion's. At last, she broke down.


	2. Black Order

**Disclaimer: Here's a not-so-happy Valentines present from CotS.**

**CotS: Happy Single's awareness day, hope this isn't too depressing. And speaking of depressing…**

**D: Child of the Sky owns nothing. Still.**

**CotS: Sigh. **

"Er, Miss—Miss Lenalee?" The addressed girl looked up from the book she was reading at her desk. Johnny was hovering at her doorway, fidgeting and chewing his lip. His eyes were glued to the ground when he muttered, "You—you need to come with me—I mean now."

Lenalee smiled sweetly and put the novel down. "Sure. Just where are we going, anyways?"

"Leverrier's office. He said that it's important." At those words, the world turned upside-down and froze. Still, the young exorcist somehow managed to remain (outwardly) calm.

"Why? What's wrong?" she asked, but Johnny just turned around and began walking away. Frustrated, the girl had to jog to catch up.

The walk was silent, save for Lenalee's many (and failed) attempts to squeeze out some answers out of her "escort." The latter, however, simply replied "Dunno" to every question and avoided eye contact the entire time. The worst part was that Johnny wasn't the only one acting strange; everybody the pair passed—finder, scientist, and exorcist alike—either looked away or stared at them in an unnerving manner. Some people even whispered to each other, pointing at Lenalee. She tried her hardest to ignore them, but felt increasingly distressed as the eyes bore into her skin.

After what seemed to be an eternity, they arrived before the ornate pine door of Malcolm C. Leverrier's office. Just outside the room, Inspector Link seemed to be dragging Allen inside. "Why're we even here? It's almost lunch…" the youth grumbled audibly as he was pulled in. Lenalee allowed herself a quick giggle before she and Johnny followed the pair.

Although the office was spacious enough, the presence of about twenty-five people made it feel small. Besides Allen and Link, Lavi and Bookman, Komui, a couple members of the order and several people from the Vatican (cardinals, Lenalee supposed) were there. Everybody was seated along the walls, facing Leverrier at his desk. Two chairs faced opposite of him; a woman was seated at the one on the left. As Lenalee entered, the woman turned to face her. The young girl's stomach twisted at the sight of Miranda Lotto's terrified face.

Noticing Miranda's movement, Leverrier looked up and saw the new arrival. With a grimace, he gestured to the other chair. Lenalee nervously obeyed and stared at her clasped hands on her lap. Everything was silent and still, except for Allen, who squirmed impatiently.

Cutting into her thoughts, Leverrier demanded aloud for the entire room, "Miss Lee, Miss Lotto, do you understand why you were brought here?" When both exorcists shook their heads, he continued, "Rumors are flying around that the two of you have been…in an inappropriate relationship."

It felt like someone had poured iced water down Lenalee's back. "I don't understand," she said, "What do you mean by inappropriate? Brother?" She looked where Komui was standing towards the back of the room, but he just balled his fists and glared at the floor.

Leverrier did not seem to notice the siblings' exchange. "When we say inappropriate, we mean homosexual. We need to know if you two have been in any such—"

"What does it matter to you?" Miranda asked quietly. The entire room tensed, especially Komui.

One of the Vatican members stood up from his seat. "Miss, the Black Order is tied to the church! If you are confirming—"

"She isn't!" Lenalee snapped. Everybody looked at her. "We aren't doing—we're not like that! We're just friends."

"Members of the Order have told us that they've seen you sneaking into each other's rooms!"

"We're just that close! I mean, there aren't a lot of girls, so it's nice to have someone to talk to."

There was a pregnant pause. Then, the standing member asked more gently, "Are you telling the truth?" Lenalee nodded. "Then I suppose that is all. We apologize for the inconvenience. However, perhaps you would find it in your best interests to keep to yourself for the time being. The last thing we need is another incident like this." The girl nodded again, relieved.

As everybody filed out, she saw her brother rush towards the door. Before she could stop him, somebody grabbed her hand. The girl turned to see Allen with a determined look on his face. "I don't care," he snapped. "You could be in love with _Timcanpy_ for all I care. Got it?"

"Yeah, no matter what, Beansprout 'n me'll be with you!" Lavi joined in, joining the boy. They met each other's eyes, and something seemed to pass between the two of them.

"Thanks," Lenalee said, her eyes prickling, "I'll remember that." Then she, too, left, not noticing that someone else had not even moved from her seat.

Later that night, Lenalee lay in her bed, waiting. Once everything was silent, she threw off the covers and crept into the hallway. She felt a familiar pull as she immediately followed the well-known route, the only sounds being her bare feet on the floor and the whispering of her white nightgown. Left turn, down some stairs, turn right, more steps, right, left, and the third room to the left. Every move was almost entirely instinctual.

Finally, she was facing the plain black door (one of many) that stood between her and paradise itself. Lifting a hand, she quickly rapped on the wood three times.

Nothing.

She tried again.

Nothing again.

Finally in a panic, the girl ever-so-gently turned the doorknob and poked her head in. The entire bedroom was dark, except for a single moonbeam from the only window. A body lay on the bed, completely still under the plain covers. A mop of curly brown hair peeked out from under the covers to form a dark halo on the pillow. Lenalee hesitantly stepped over the threshold and towards the other person. "Manda," she hissed, "Manda!" The figure squirmed for a few minutes until, with Lenalee's encouragement, Miranda Lotto sat up.

"Muh? Wha? Lenalee?" the woman groaned, rubbing her eyes. When she came to the unfocused orbs instantly turned cold as the identity of her visitor registered. "Lenalee," she murmured, "shouldn't you be in bed?"

The girl in question giggled quietly. "Of course not, silly! Besides," she sighed," "I missed you." Her hand reached for her companion's shoulder, but Miranda quickly leaned away. Lenalee froze, then demanded, "What's wrong with you? Don't tell me today got to you—we got off _clean_!"

"Only because, according to you, _we_ don't exist," came the chilled rebuttal.

"What'd you expect me to do?"

"Tell the truth. Say you love me."

"I couldn't do that!"

"Why not?"

"Because we would both get kicked out! I don't know about you, but I'm doing okay here. We've got friends, family—"

"_You_ have family! Besides, you know what else is here? Leverrier!"

"Which is the main reason we need to keep quiet!"

"Why don't we just _leave_?" Miranda snapped. Lenalee rolled her eyes.

"Don't you listen?" the girl replied. "I. Have. _Family_. You can't expect me to choose me over my _brother_."

"Why do you have to choose? Why can't you have both? It's not like I wouldn't let you see him again."

"That's not how it works. Do you really think Komui would even want me to see him?" Miranda remained silent, then—

"So you're that ashamed of me?" Miranda muttered. Lenalee tried to say something, anything, but what? Was she ashamed? The older woman sighed at the silence. "Leave. Now. Please." Her voice was so quiet, so pleading, that Lenalee could only step back. Before the girl's mind could comprehend what was happening, her body was out the door. Her body shook with silent sobs. However, had she bothered to listen, the sounds of someone else crying could be heard from within the room.

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